Depth charge launcher for a rocket propelled missile



H. W. ALDRIN Feb. 6, 1968 DEPTH CHARGE LAUNCHER FOR A ROCKET PROPELLED MISSILE 2 Sheets-Shet 1 Filed June 14, 1966 FIG. 2

INVENTOR. HENRY W/L HEL M ALLve/N BY fla Ma Arm/wars Feb. 6, 1968 H. w. ALDlN 3 DEPTH CHARGE LAUNCHER FOR A ROCKET PROPELLED MISSILE Filed June 14, 1966 2 SheecsSheet 2 FIG. 4

I N VEN TOR. 2 7 HENRY W/LHELM AL DE/N Fail BY A T TOR/VEYJ /4 4 20 nmlIIII/u.

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United States Patent 3,367,232 DEPTH CHARGE LAUNCHER FOR A ROCKET PROPELLED MISSILE Henry Wilhelm Aldrin, Bofors, Sweden, assignor to Aktiebolaget Bofors, Bofors, Sweden Filed June 14, 1966, Ser. No. 557,554 Claims priority, application Sweden, June 30, 1965, 8,614/ 65 7 Claims. (Cl. 89-1) The present invention relates to a weapon which can be elevated, and particularly to a depth-charge launcher. Such a weapon consists of a number of launching tubes, each of which is loaded with a rocket-propelled depth charge which is fired in a known way. Such depth-charge launchers can usually be both elevated and traversed, and are, as a rule, arranged on a ships deck. They are loaded by the actual launching tube being elevated 90. The weapon thus elevated is traversed so that the launching tubes, one after the other, come in line with a hole in the deck. Through this hole, each launching tube is loaded with a depth charge, from a magazine located below the ships deck, with the aid of a hoisting device.

The above-mentioned known depth-charge launcher has the disadvantage that when a depth-charge has been fired from a launching tube and the tube is thereafter to be elevated to 90 and lined up with said hole, water, when the sea is rough, will enter into the empty launching tube and flow through the hole in the deck into the magazine below.

The purpose of the present invention is to prevent water from entering into the magazine of the depth charge launcher. In order to avoid this, the depth-charge launcher is made so that it can only be elevated relative to the part of the deck on which it is mounted and that this deck part is'rotatable relative to the rest of the deck. This entails that the depth-charge launcher, which can consist of one or several launching tubes, has a fixed angle of traverse in relation to said part. Further, the invention is characterized by the features that there is an opening for each tube in the base or deck, and that the openings or the holes in the base are formed by pipe stubs extending from the base. All the pipe stubs are surrounded by a common continuous wall, which along part of its extent has different heights, but at least the height of said pipe stubs. A pump is arranged to remove any liquid from the space enclosed by the wall. A shield with a cylindrical external surface is fastened directly or indirectly to the launching tube or tubes in such a way that its center of curvature coincides with the turning axis through the trunnion center of the weapon. Part of the surface of the shield coincides with the end surfaces of the launching tube, and the surface is provided with holes at the ends of the launching tubes, corresponding to the internal cross-section area of the launching tubes. The height of the pipe stubs and the height of the continuous wall are also so adapted and the shield has such a length in the circular circumferential direction and such a width that, regardless of what elevation is chosen, all parts of the edge surfaces of the pipe stubs and all parts of the edge surfaces of the continuous wall are in contact with or very nearly in contact with the cylindrical surface of the shield.

The present invention will be described in more detail in conjunction with the attached four figures, of which FIG. 1 shows a depth-charge launcher according to the present invention, and FIGURES 2-4 show the same depth-charge launcher in three different elevation positions.

In FIG. 1, a depth-charge launcher 1 is shown as being placed on a fixed base 2, for instance a ships deck, and is supported so that it can be elevated in two cradle car- 3,367,232 Patented Feb. 6, 1968 riers 3 and 4, which in relation to the ships deck or base are stationary. In order to make it possible to traverse the weapon, the part upon which the launcher is mounted may consist of a circular disc, which is rotatable round an axis at right angles to the center of the disc and relative to the other parts of the deck. Between the two cradle carriers 3 and 4, four launching barrels or tubes, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are arranged. The four launching tubes are also provided with four jackets, 9, 10, 11 and 12 respectively. Through these jackets, the launching tubes 5-8 are fixed to each other so that they form one single unit. In this unit, trunnions are arranged at the jackets 9-12. In the figure, the trunnion 13, which is fastened to the jacket 12, is shown.

A shield 14 is fastened to the unit formed by the launching tubes 5-8. The screen has a cylindrical outer surface, which has its center of curvature in the trunnion 13. The surface of the shield coincides with the rear parts of the launching tubes 5, 6, '7, and 8, as shown in the figure. The shield includes holes 15, 16, 17 and 18, which are of the same size as the internal diameters of the launching tubes. Through said holes 15-18, the launching tubes 5-8 are entirely open rearwards. It is fastened to. the jackets 9, 10, 11 and 12 with the aid of braces 14a, 14b and 140. In the ships deck there are four loading openings, which are exactly under the rear openings of the launching tubes 5, 6, 7 and 8, when the depth-charge launcher is elevated to a angle. As these openings in the ships deck, are at a fixed distance from the lower ends of the launching tubes, each hole is surrounded by a tubular pipe stub or a collar, which is in contact with the outer surface of shield 14 regardless of the elevation at which the depth-charge launcher is set. Two of these pipe stubs are shown in the figure, and have been given the reference designations 23 and 24. All four pipe stubs are surrounded by a continuous wall 19, around a rectangular bottom surface, that is, the wall 19 consists of two wall sections 20 and 22, which are parallel to each other, and two wall sections 21, which are also parallel to each other. Said four wall sections have such a height that the respective surface of the shield 14 is always in contact with all upper edges of the wall, that is, if the holes 15, 16, 17 and 18 are disregarded, the deck area which is surrounded by the wall 19 is entirely closed by means of the shield 14, so that the space enclosed by the wall 19 is entirely closed off from the outside. There can, of course, be a certain small amount of play between the shield 14 and the upper edge surface of the wall 19. The shield 14 has such .a length that, regardless of the elevation at which the launching tubes 5-8 are set, the last-mentioned space is always entirely closed from the outside. A pump 25 coacts with the space, and has a suction pipe 26, which leads to the space in the way shown in FIG. 1. The pump is provided with an outlet pipe 27.

The depth-charge launcher described above functions in the following way.

Let it be assumed that the depth-charge launcher, in the elevation shown in FIGS. 1 or 2, is loaded with depth charges, and that these are subsequently fired. It is also assumed that the sea is rough, so that at said elevation water can enter into the launching tu-bes. Under such conditions, the launching tubes to be loaded are elevated into the position shown in FIG. 3. The water which is then in the launching tubes flows into the space formed by the continuous wall 19 and the outer body surfaces of the pipe stubs 23, 24. The water which now fills this space is evacuated by the pump 25. In this way, all the 25. In order to be loaded, the launching tubes, in relation to the position shown in FIG. 4, must be elevated further, so that the launching tubes will coincide with the corresponding pipe stubs. When this has been effected, the launching tube can be loaded, and thereafter it can be elevated so that it is again ready for action.

If the distance between the wall 20 and the pipe stubs is small, it is appropriate to arrange a cover of the same length as the wall 20. The cover is rotatably arranged with one side edge at the upper edge of the wall 20 and is located outside the space which is enclosed by the wall 19. The cover has such a form that its entire upper surface can be made to come into contact with the outside surface of the shield 14. The contact itself is achieved by means of a spring or some other suitable member with the same effect.

In certain cases, it can be necessary to arrange a sealing element between the surface of the shield and the upper edge of the continuous wall. Such a seal can, for instance, be a rubber strip, which is fastened to the continuous wall, and has its free end in contact with the surface of the shield.

I claim:

1. A launching assemblage for launching a rocket propelled missile, said assemblage comprising, in combination, a launching platform, a launching barrel open at both ends, mounting means supporting said barrel pivotal between a depressed position substantially parallel to said platform and a fully elevated position defining an angle of 90 with said platform, said platform including a loading opening for hoisting a missile from a position below the platform to a position above the same, said loading opening and said mounting means being disposed so that the loading opening and the barrel are in registry in a predetermined elevated position of the barrel for loading a missile into the same through said opening, a collar upwardly protruding from the platform and surrounding said loading opening, a continuous wall upwardly protruding from the platform and surrounding said collar spaced apart therefrom to define a space open at the top side, and shielding means secured to the load- .ing end of the barreLsurrounding the same, said shielding means being disposed and shaped to cover the open top site of said space in all angular positions of the barrel.

2. A launching assemblage according to claim 1 wherein said shielding means comprisea plate-shaped member concavely curved in reference to the pivot axis of said barrel, and wherein the rim of said wall along the top end thereof is curved in conformity with thecurvature of said plate-shaped member and is disposed to effect a closing engagement between said rim and said plateshaped member in all pivotal positions of the latter.

3. A launching assemblage according to claim 2 wherein said plate-shaped member and said rim define circular curvatures having a common center axis coinciding with the pivot axis of the barrel and substantially equal radii,

4. A launching assemblage according to claim 1 where-;- in said shielding means comprise a plate shaped member concavely curved in. reference to the pivot axis .of said barrel, and wherein the top edge of said collar'defines a curvature conforming to the curvature of said plate-shaped member and is disposed to effect a closing engagement between said top edge and said plate-shaped member all pivotal positions of the latter.

5. A launching assemblage according to claim 4 where'- in said plate-shaped member, said rim of the wall at the top edge thereof and the top edge of said collar define cylindrical curvatures having a common center axis c0in-" ciding with the pivot axis of said barrel and substantially equal radii to effect a closing engagement between saidv rim, said top edge of said collar and said plate-shaped member in all pivotal positions of the latter. 6. A launching assemblage according to claim 1 wherein a draining duct communicates with said space to drain the same.

7. A launching assemblage according to claim 6 wherein a suction pump is included in said draining duct.

No references cited.

BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner. 

1. A LAUNCHING ASSEMBLAGE FOR LAUNCHING A ROCKET PROPELLED MISSILE, SAID ASSEMBLAGE COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A LAUCHING PLATFORM, A LAUNCHING BARREL OPEN AT BOTH ENDS, MOUNTING MEANS SUPPORTING SAID BARREL PIVOTAL BETWEEN A DEPRESSED POSITION SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID PLATFORM AND A FULLY ELEVATED POSITION DEFINING AN ANGLE OF 90* WITH SAID PLATFORM, SAID PLATFORM INCLUDING A LOADING OPENING FOR HOISTING A MISSILE FROM A POSITION BELOW THE PLATFROM TO A POSITION ABOVE THE SAME, SAID LOADING OPENING FOR HOISTING A MISSILE FROM A POSITION SO THAT THE LOADING OPENING AND THE BARREL ARE IN REGISTRY IN A PREDETERMINED ELEVATED POSTION OF THE BARREL FOR LOADING A MISSILE INTO THE SAME THROUGH SAID OPENING, A COLLAR UPWARDLY PROTRUDING FROM THE PLATFROM AND SURROUNDING SAID LOADING OPENING, A CONTINUOUS WALL UPWARDLY PROTRUDING FORM THE PLATFROM AND SURROUNDING SAID COLLAR SPACED APART THEREFROM TO DEFINE A SURROUNDING AT THE TOP SIDE, AND SHIELDING MEANS SECURED TO THE LOADING END OF THE BARREL SURROUNDING THE SAME, SAID SHIELDING MEANS BEING DISPOSED AND SHAPED TO COVER THE OPEN TOP SITE OF SAID SPACE IN ALL ANGULAR POSITIONS OF THE BARREL. 